Cities and towns can be found along the banks of any river in the world. The main reasons for this are the availability of water and river transportation. Since prehistoric times, rivers have been a feature of society. Hundreds of civilizations have perished as a result of river floods and soil erosion, just as thousands of civilizations have risen up around the river.
Our topic of discussion is about the longest river in the world. To answer this, it is necessary to measure the length of the river. But defining how long a river is not so easy. If many tributaries come together to form a large river, how do you define where the river actually begins? Length measurements are not always clear.
A river can have more than one channel or anabranch. The length may depend on whether the center or edge of the river has been measured. Moreover the accuracy of the techniques is affected by the scale of the available maps or aerial photographs and somewhat arbitrarily. Other factors that can change the length of a river include erosion and flooding, dams, levees and cycles of channelization.
That’s why there seems to be disagreement over whether the Nile or the Amazon is the longest river in the world. In 2007 and 2008, some scientists claimed that the Amazon measured long rivers and adjacent estuaries and the longest connecting tidal canals. A peer-reviewed article published in 2009 in the International Journal of Digital Earth concludes that the Nile is longer.
However, a decision must be made. Today we will talk about the five longest rivers in the world based on the information of scientists among the thousands of small and big rivers flowing through the heart of the world.
Nile River: The longest river in the world is the Nile River.
Location and Length
In northern Africa, the Nile is a significant north-flowing river. The river empties into the Mediterranean Sea. It is the longest river in Africa, and it has long been thought to be the longest river in the world, yet research suggests that the Amazon River is slightly longer. Located in North Africa, the river is 6,650 km long.
Route
The longest river in the world has flowed through several countries. The Nile River system has two major tributaries: the White Nile, which gives substantially less water to the Nile’s flow, and the Blue Nile, which together form the modern Nile river. The Luvironza Riveris the source of the White Nile.
Originating Source
Lake Tana in the Gilgel Abbay watershed in the Ethiopian Highlands is the source of the Blue Nile. The role of this river in the history of the world since ancient times is undeniable. Ancient Egyptian civilization developed around this river. Egypt’s agriculture still survives on this Nile River. Even about 99 percent of Egyptians live in the Nile basin. However, the origin or end of this river is not in Egypt. And the unimaginable thing is, the origin of this river is not one but two countries! One part enters Sudan as Blue Nile to the north from Ethiopia’s Lake Tana and the other part enters Sudan via Burundi, Rwanda,
Lake Victoria of Tanzania and Uganda as White Nile. The two groups entered Egypt together in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Then it flowed through the deserts of Egypt and into the Mediterranean Sea. The longest river in the world is connected to Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo and Tanzania.
Amazon: The Amazon is the second longest river in the world in terms of length.
Location and Origination Source
The Amazon River is located in South America and is the second longest river in the world. Its source is the Nevado Mismi peak in the Andes Mountains of Peru.
Route, Water Discharge
The Amazon River travels nearly 3,000 miles across South America, sweeping through three countries into the Atlantic Ocean. This river holds more water than any other river in the world. Where the Amazon River flows into the ocean, 4.2 million cubic feet of water falls into the ocean every second. During the monsoon season this amount goes up to about 6 million cubic feet.
Length
The length of the Amazon is 6,400 kilometers. On the way, the river merges into the Atlantic at the mouth of three countries. Although it is second in length, the amount of water that this river holds is unmatched by any other river in the world. The Amazon River carries about 29,000 cubic meters of water per second to the sea.
About twenty percent of the water that all the rivers of the world carry to the sea falls into the sea through this river. The river, which flows through Brazil, Colombia and Peru, is home to a vast area of biodiversity in South America.
Chang Jiang:
The Chang Chiang River is the third largest river in the world but the longest river in Asia. Those in the West have given the river the name Yangtze, which is derived from the name of the ancient lordship of Yang
Origination source, Route and Length
In China, it is known as Chang Jiang (“Long River”), but it is also known as Da Jiang (“Great River”) or just Jiang. The Yangtze is China’s most important river.Another name for it is Yangsi. Chang Chiang originated from the Tangula Mountains in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region. And the last fell and merged into the East China Sea. The length of Chang Chiang is 6,038 kilometers.
Importance of the river
The river plays a significant role in China’s economy, history and culture. Unexpectedly, about one-third of China’s population lives in this river basin. Chang Chiang is the main source of water in one-fifth of China’s territory. The world’s largest hydropower plant has been built on this river.
Mississippi and Missouri:
Location and Length of the river
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in North America and the primary river of the continent’s second-largest drainage system, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. It flows south approximately 3,730 kilometres from its historic source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.
Route
The Mississippi’s watershed drains all or portions of 32 US states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains, thanks to its numerous tributaries. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the drainage basin’s total area is 1,151,000 square miles (2,980,000 square kilometres), with only about 1% in Canada.
The Mississippi is the world’s fourteenth-largest river by discharge. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana all border or pass through the river. The Mississippi River has created America’s largest drainage system. The Mississippi River continues to play a major role in the U.S. economy and production system.
Yenesai and Angara: Yenesai and Angara are the fifth largest rivers in the world.
Source and Length of the river
Their length is 5 thousand 539 kilometers. The Yenesai River originates in Mongolia. Originating in Mongolia, it entered Russia. The 992 km long Silence River has disappeared into Lake Baikal. The river Angara originated from there.
Route
And the Angara River merges with the Yenesai River. Then it traveled a long way and merged into the Arctic Ocean. Yenisei is the largest of the rivers that fall into the North Ocean. However, the river is heavily polluted for heavy industry. It was once known as the Upper Tunguska (Russian: ернунускa,
Verkhnyaya Tunguska, to distinguish it from the Lower Tunguska) and, with the names reversed, as the Lower Tunguska below its junction with the Ilim. The Angara runs north from Lake Baikal near Listvyanka, passing through the Irkutsk Oblast cities of Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk, and Ust-Ilimsk. It then proceeds west, entering the Krasnoyarsk Krai, and joining the Yenisey near Strelka, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Lesosibirsk.
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